Northville Hospital ruins will be razed

Northville Township Manager Chip Snider, former State Rep. Kurt Heise, the late John Adamo Jr., CEO Adamo Group with Township Supervisor Robert Nix at Scott Prison demolition, August, 2013.

Nov. 30, 2017 PLYMOUTH EAGLE.

Plymouth Michigan News

Northville Township officials have approved a $5.9 million contract for demolition of the former Northville Psychiatric Hospital on Seven Mile Road.

The contract to demolish the main hospital building was awarded to the Adamo Group, based in Detroit, which will establish a work site on the 350-acre property this month, according to township officials.

The hospital has been closed for more than 15 years and the 350-acre property has not been occupied and has become referred to by officials as an eye- sore, with broken windows, asbestos contamination and overgrown plantings. The multi- story building has also been a regular source of calls to the Northville Township Police Department as trespassers invaded the building, particularly during Halloween. More than 400 trespassers have been arrested this year at the property.

“For years, these buildings have created blight and have been a significant drain on public safety resources,” noted Township Supervisor Bob Nix. He added that the demolition of the property has been his priority since taking office in 2012. He said that following an aggressive asbestos abatement plan the building should be razed and the demolition complete by fall of 2018.

The contract will be funded by an arrangement for the development of the Robert Scott Correctional Facility property at Five Mile and Beck Road. The township purchased the former women’s prison from the state and then sold the land to Redico, a company currently building a mixed-use development on the 53-acres. The township realized about $5.1 million from the sale of the prison site after a pre-agreed split with the state.

Northville Township acquired the hospital property in 2009 when township voters agreed to a special tax to buy the site for $23.5 million for the development of recreational facilities. A separate 80 acres of former hospital property at Seven Mile and Haggerty Road is owned by a developer and is the site of the University of Michigan Northville Health Center and several restaurants and retail stores.

The power plant at the hospital, one of more than 18 original outbuildings, has already been demolished along with another structure at the site. That work, too, included asbestos abatement and the removal of hazardous waste. The township paid about $920,000 for that work, Nix said. The contract for the demolition of the main building does not include any work at the other outbuildings.

The township, according to Nix, spends about $100,000 annually to police the property and thieves have taken valuable metals and other materials from the site. He said that those activities increased the clean-up cost of the contaminants at the site by millions of dollars.

The demolition of the building will include the two underground levels in the building. Adamo employees will fence the perimeter, install video surveillance and floodlights at the site and install a mobile office, according to a statement from Nix’ office.